The Chinese are reportedly considering building a railway between China and Nepal that could involve building a tunnel under Mount Everest. The plan has set alarm bells ringing in Delhi.

The proposed 540-kilometer high-speed rail link is expected to be
completed by 2020 and would be an extension of a railway that
already links China with Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet
Autonomous Region, according to Chinese state media.

“A proposed extension of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway to the
China-Nepal border through Tibet would boost bilateral trade and
tourism as there is currently no rail line linking the two
countries,” the state-run China Daily reported.

However, because of the huge changes in elevation along the
route, trains would probably be limited to a maximum speed of 120
kilometers per hour.

A rail expert at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Wang
Mengshu, said that engineers would face a number of challenges.

“The changes in the elevation along the line are remarkable.
The line will probably have to go through Qomolangma [Tibetan
name for Mt Everest] so workers may have to dig some very long
tunnels,” Wang said.

According to Wang, the project is being built at Nepal’s request
and China has already started preparatory work on the Chinese
side.

The Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region, Losang Jamcan, told
Ram Baran Yadav, the President of Nepal, on a visit to Lhasa last
month that China will extend the existing Tibet railway to
Kermug, the Chinese town nearest to the border with Nepal.

It was reported last July by the People’s Daily newspaper that
China also plans to extend the Tibet railway to the borders of
India and Bhutan.

An extension also opened last year from Lhasa to Shigatse, also
in Tibet, the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama, a Tibetan
spiritual leader.

The People’s Daily also reported that China would build two more
rail lines from Shigatse, one to Yadong, near the border with
India and Bhutan and another to Jilong, near the border with
Nepal.

Beijing has been investing billions of dollars into the poor
Himalayan nation, building roads, hydroelectric power plants and
telecommunications. Chinese tourism to Nepal is also on the up
and Beijing also recently increased its annual aid to Nepal from
$24 million to $128 million.

India may not be too pleased at the developments, as it regards
Nepal as within its sphere of influence. There is alarm in New
Delhi that China’s increasing role in the affairs of Nepal,
Pakistan, the Maldives and Sri Lanka is a deliberate strategy to
encircle India.

But Hu Shisheng, director of the China Institute of Contemporary
International Relations, told Chinese state media that the aim of
investing in the railway is to improve people’s livelihoods and
local economies.

Meanwhile, rights groups have also voiced concern at the project.
The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) has warned of
“dangerous implications for regional security and the fragile
ecosystem of the world’s highest and largest plateau.”

“The Chinese government’s claim that rail expansion on the
plateau simply benefits tourism and lifts Tibetans out of poverty
does not hold up to scrutiny and cannot be taken at face
value,” ICT president Matteo Mecacci said in a statement.